UK Sex Sells News

Well, many readers may have heard of research being carried out by Professor Phil Hubbard on Sexual Entertainment venues. The initial results are in, and although the full results are not due until March 2013, I have been given permission to produce a synopsis of the report. I will say at the outset of this post that the majority of the report is not surprising and does no harm to the industry; there is one sticking point which I will discuss in more detail and explain why I feel that it is not likely to affect the industry.

There are 241 licensed premises regularly offering lap dancing or striptease in England and Wales. Nearly half (43%) of those applying for a Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV) license have received no formal objections at all. This doesn't really come as much of a surprise: most people are not bothered about the venues and there tends to be only a small handful of complainants who may write in. Given that Portsmouth managed to obtain a massive response following a very vocal campaign by pressure groups to get the clubs shut down, with 113 against and over 3000 for the venues, the fact that some clubs receive no objections at all should not surprise anyone.

A survey of residents in towns and cities with lap dance clubs suggests that around one in five were not even aware there was an SEV operating in their town or city! Fewer than one in ten identified an SEV as a particular source of local nuisance, and in some locations this was considerably lower. Once again not a surprise, as we have seen previously from my report on crime that the belief that venues are an issue for police is a fallacy.

...Read the full article

A strip club that was denied permission last year has now been allowed to open.

Leicester City Council have granted a sexual entertainment venue licence for Angels Gentlemen's Club in New Park Road.

Last year, a similar application from the company, KN Leisure, to open the club between 8pm and 4am was rejected. The new application, which is for opening hours between midnight and 5am, was granted permission by city councillors sitting on a licensing enforcement sub-committee.

A strange absence of explanation in the newspaper 'reporting' considering the judical review alluded to in an  article from  strip-magazine.com :

In what will probably turn out to be a very important decision Angels in Leicester has been granted an SEV after taking the council to judicial revue. This is the first of what I expect to be a large number of legal challenges pointing out the incompatibility of the new act with a number of EU rules designed to ensure an open market.

A banner ad, which appeared to a guest member on the dating site www.gaydar.co.uk, featured various images of naked men engaged in sexual acts. One showed a man with an erection. Text stated BAITBUS.COM and STRAIGHT GUYS TRICKED INTO GAY SEX .

A complainant challenged whether the ad was offensive and unsuitable for a dating website.

BangBros.com.Inc, trading as Bait Bus (Bait Bus), stated that the website www.gaydar.co.uk was an adult dating site on which gay men and couples sought to find sexual partners. They pointed out that the site allowed members to post explicit photos on their profiles, while noting that the most explicit of these could only be seen by those who had paid a subscription fee. They said the profiles on the site also included space for members to list their preferred sexual positions and whether or not they had been circumcised, and there was a mobile phone dating application which allowed members to find nearby men interested in meeting up while they were travelling. They submitted a number of screenshots of the site and the mobile phone application. Bait Bus considered that the ad was more than appropriate for display on the website, given the adult content available on the rest of the site. They stated that, although they did not agree that the ad was unsuitable for the medium, they had since removed it from the Gaydar website.

QSoft Consulting Ltd, trading as Gaydar (Gaydar), pointed out that the ad would only have been shown to registered users of the site, who according to their terms and conditions would have to be aged 18 or over. They questioned whether, in that context, the ad was offensive or simply distasteful in nature. They explained that non-paying, guest members were not shown XXX rated content within user profiles, but that all members would see the same banner advertising. They said they had a set of creative specifications to which advertising on the site should adhere. Owing to the volume of advertising they ran, ads which did not meet those specifications were occasionally accepted in error, but when a user brought such a case to their attention they would remove it from the site. Their specifications precluded images of erections or penetration. Gaydar said they had now taken down the ad for Bait Bus because it did not conform to their specifications, but stressed that those specifications were designed to ensure that advertising met with their users' tastes and did not mean that the ad was indecent.

ASA Decision: Complaint Upheld

The ASA noted that the ad contained overtly sexual content. We therefore considered that it required very careful targeting to avoid causing offence to those who viewed it. We acknowledged that the ad was only shown to registered users of the website, and that the website contained content of an adult nature. However, we noted that the site offered both free guest and payable member account types to its users, and that those with guest accounts were not able to see explicit photos or videos, rated by the site as XXX , on other users' profiles unless they upgraded to a full, paying, membership. We understood that the ad had appeared to both types of user on the Gaydar website. We also noted that advertising on the site would not generally display images of the nature seen in the ad, because of Gaydar's internal policies.

Although we accepted that the site made provision for user profiles to contain information of an adult nature, we understood that the general user experience of a guest member of the site would not include exposure to images of the explicit nature shown in the ad. We also considered that the text STRAIGHT GUYS TRICKED INTO GAY SEX , because it implied non-consensual behaviour, carried threatening and violent undertones and for that reason would be likely to cause serious offence.

We viewed the images in the ad as being sufficiently explicit to be likely to cause serious offence, and we understood that they did not appear against an established context of similar content on the site for guest users. Because of that, and because we considered the text to be also likely to offend, we concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some guest users and that it had been inappropriately targeted to appear to guest members of Gaydar. We welcomed the assurances from both Bait Bus and Gaydar that the ad had been removed.

The ad breached CAP Code rules 1.3 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence).

A former table dancer fired over suspected drug use lost an appeal in a lawsuit that looked at whether strippers are employees or contractors at UK clubs.

Judges in London's Court of Appeal overturned an employment appeal tribunal's decision that said Nadine Quashie was a permanent employee at Stringfellows. The appeals court said that Quashie was a contractor because she made payments to the club for the opportunity to entertain clients.

The fact that the dancer took the economic risk is also a very powerful pointer against the contract being a contract of employment, Judge Patrick Elias said in his written ruling.

Shah Qureshi, a lawyer for Quashie, said his client is considering an appeal to the Supreme Court and the ruling may affect other industries.

Update: Judgement Exploitation

23rd December 2012. Thanks to Alan

I sometimes wonder what planet judges live on. Lap dancers have to pay clubs to work there. That in itself is a bloody disgrace, and gives ammunition to the sex workers are exploited lobby. In this respect, lap dancers ARE exploited.

The absurd rug-headed twits have also given a gift to any crap boss engaging in false self-employment . What's to stop a building site charging the navvies twenty quid a week to work there, or even a university charging a grand a year for the privilege of lecturing there?

A former table dancer fired over suspected drug use lost an appeal in a lawsuit that looked at whether strippers are employees or contractors at UK clubs.

Judges in London's Court of Appeal overturned an employment appeal tribunal's decision that said Nadine Quashie was a permanent employee at Stringfellows. The appeals court said that Quashie was a contractor because she made payments to the club for the opportunity to entertain clients.

The fact that the dancer took the economic risk is also a very powerful pointer against the contract being a contract of employment, Judge Patrick Elias said in his written ruling.

Shah Qureshi, a lawyer for Quashie, said his client is considering an appeal to the Supreme Court and the ruling may affect other industries.

Lambeth councillors have turned down an application for a strip club at Max 2, on Brixton Road.

The move, by the licensing sub-committee, signals an end to six years as a lap dancing club which had been operating under older sexual entertainment legislation.

Cllr Jack Hopkins, member for Oval and also cabinet member for community safety spoke against the application on the grounds of women's safety. He told the Blog:

This is a fantastic victory for people power, and is in line with protecting girls and women against violence.

This sets out a stand that people can be in control of their local area.

A lawyer for owner Eduardo Gomes, told the meeting that Max 2 had been operating as a lap dancing club under the radar for six years and posed no threat to local residents. He said:

I understand the fear of residents, but we are modest and self-contained. We know our customers and we go hard on problem individuals.

The application was to provide sex shows and an adult cinema from 9pm until 4am Thursday to Saturday and until 2am on Wednesdays. The application was met with 160 letters of objection from local residents.

Presumably in the absence of any recorded complaints, opponents painted a picture of unrecorded complaints against the venue, and of thumping noise late at night.

Resident Lily Ryan-Collins claimed:

When I come home after dark I walk past Max 2 and there are people coming in and out. I get stared at as I walk by and it is very intimidating.

The opponents were also supported by lawyer Jon Payne, provided on a pro bono basis by the Christian Legal Centre.

Supposedly due to the late hour of proceedings, cllr Targett-Parker refused to give reasons for the refusal when she announced it, but said they would be forwarded to the applicant over Christmas.

A lap-dancing club has opened in the centre of a Bedfordshire market town despite widespread nutter opposition.

A small protest was held outside Shayler's Club in Ampthill on Friday night as it opened for a VIP event.

Councillor Brian Spurr said in the end the council had no choice but to grant it a licence. He added that conditions had been imposed on the club before it could open, including no advertising signs, and its manager - John Shaylor - had kept to his promises.

I'm just hoping that people don't actually go there, then it will close, said Spurr.

Shayler said earlier this year that his purpose was not to upset the people of Ampthill but to put a building he owned back into

Offsite Review: So what goes down at Shayler's

8th December 2012. See  article from  bedfordshire-news.co.uk

There was something unnerving about being frisked at a heavily guarded back door in the pitch black of night.

I'd already passed four six-foot-something bouncers who had told me that Shayler's, the highly controversial strip club in Ampthill, was in business and would cost a pricey £ 20 to get in.

... Read the full article

Newquay Town Council's planning committee has rejected proposals for the top floor of the Beach Niteclub being turned into a hostess and lap-dancing club called The Attic.

Councillors voted against the application for a sexual entertainment venue licence on the grounds of locality . The club was described as being slap bang in the middle of the primary shopping area . Omitting to mention that this is also a nighttime entertainment area with more than a fair shar of bars and clubs.

However the final decision will be made by Cornwall Council early in the New Year.

St Austell and Newquay MP Stephen Gilbert has now submitted his own letter of objection to the council, spouting the bollox that it would have a devastating impact on the family tourist industry that is so vital to Newquay's economy .

He rather contradicted the council claim about being a family shopping area by saying that:

This area has been described by the police as a 'crime hotspot' and any additional licences have the potential to exacerbate this further.

In the past, this area was dominated by the night-time economy but with the recent addition of the Lighthouse Cinema and a £ 2 million investment from JD Wetherspoons, on the site of a former lap dancing club, the area is rapidly changing and is attracting more visitors from the family tourist market.

Newquay has in recent years tried hard to mend its reputation following many unsavoury incidents and a number of tragic deaths.

Applicant Jane Hawkey, who runs the Beach, told councillors that there should be no grounds to refuse her application based on location as the club is part of the Golden Triangle area of pubs, clubs and strip clubs.

Sex entertainment venues in Swansea have been banned by the local council following a decision to cap their number at nil .

The policy has been changed from each application being dealt with on its own merits to one where they will normally be refused . It covers lap dancing, pole dancing, table dancing, strip shows, peep shows and live sex shows.

A report to the cabinet, which made the decision said:

Members have requested that the current policy is reviewed with a view to introducing an appropriate number of nil for sexual entertainment venues in the city centre. It is not proposed that an appropriate number will be considered for the other types of sex establishments and any such applications will continue to be dealt with on their merits.

Swansea currently has one venue with a licence for sex entertainment, which runs out in April next year. But its club Bellissima, which has since changed to bar and lounge venue Club Rouge, has not been able to use its licence as Swansea council is the property's leaseholder and will not agree a change of planning use.

York Place Baptist Church minister, the Reverend Haydn Dennis, objected to the licence stating there were deep spiritual objections .

Swansea Council's cabinet has agreed to launch a public consultation on the new policy banning the licensing of sex establishments.

A new erotic novel seems to be following up the success of EL James's 50 Shades of Grey.

Reflected in You, by Japanese-American author Slyvia Day, has sold over 80,000 paperbacks in the UK on its first six days of release.

According to figures from Nielsen BookScan, which provides sales data for the book industry, Reflected in You has sold 82,759 in the last week. Only JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol have sold more copies in their first week since Nielsen's records began in 1998, according to British publishing industry magazine the Bookseller.

The Bookseller's charts editor Phillip Stone told The Guardian:

I think its mega-sale proves two things: one, that the erotica boom is here to stay, and two, that there's still life in the printed book. Reflected in You has been on sale in digital formats for a month already. Despite this, the paperback edition still enjoyed one of the strongest ever opening-week sales for a printed book since records began.

Day's novel, the follow up to her previous bestselling erotic novel Bared To You , tells of an intensely romantic love affair featuring a damaged and tormented billionaire.

Maidstone Council has rejected an application for lap dancing to take place at a town centre venue in Maidstone, Kent.

The Christian Legal Centre supported local nutters who climed the usual bollox that such a venue was not suitable in an area being regenerated by the council where there are already schools, churches and shops nearby.

Maidstone Council received more than 100 letters of objection in advance of the hearing and the council heard from a member of the town's street pastor scheme.

Michael Phillips, the solicitor representing many of the objectors, ludicrously claimed that the application would effectively be turning Bank Street, where the premises are located, into a sex street.

Andrea Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre said:

We are delighted with the Council's decision which proves that it is possible for lap dancing licenses to be challenged successfully, and that Councils recognise the harm and risks posed by permitting sex establishments to run in their city centres.

We would encourage anyone who wishes to resist a sex licence applications to contact us. The Christian Legal centre will support you, because we recognise the adverse effects of such establishments on communities. After yesterday's outcome, we are confident that more victories can be achieved.

Update: Moral censors ban again

1st November 2012. See  article from  christianconcern.com

Maidstone Council have refused a second application for lap dancing to take place at a venue located near a large shopping mall in the Gabriel Hills area.

A similar application for a lap dancing club to open near Maidstone town centre was rejected by the Council on 22nd October.

The Christian Legal Centre supported a local nutter who voiced moral concerns that such a venue was 'inappropriate' in an area surrounded by churches, a large shopping centre and a number of family-friendly restaurants.

Welcoming the decision, Andrea Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre spewed:

We are delighted that Maidstone Council has reaffirmed its position that no new sex establishments are welcome in the area.

Plans for a lap-dancing club in Sunderland city centre have been given the go-ahead thwarting objections from the Mayor and church nutters. Privilege, in Crowtree Road, has been granted a Sex Establishment Licence for lap-dancing, pole-dancing and strip shows.

Mayor of Sunderland, Iain Kay, objected to the move, which he claimed would be detrimental to the neighbourhood and send mixed signals to potential developers. He spouted:

In the immediate future, we have a vision for the area of the city as a public open space where families can enjoy a spot of rest and relaxation in the middle of a busy city.

As a city council, it is critical that we take all steps necessary to raise the profile and image of this area within the city centre and allowing such a licence at this time would be very much to the detriment of the exciting family orientated future this area has available to it.

Father Michael McCoy, of St Joseph's in Millfield and St Anee's in Pennywell, also hedged around moral objections with the usual nutter waffle:

The granting of this licence would be very much to the detriment of our city and in particular to this area, which we hoped would be developed into an open space where families could relax in the middle of a busy city centre.

The parishes we serve here in our area of Sunderland are large, vibrant communities and include many young families. We know that many of these families and many others in our parishes would welcome the redevelopment of parts of the city centre in to 'family orientated' areas - the granting of the licence for the club would seriously harm this.

We strive in our parish communities to uphold the dignity of all people and to support family life, and don't want to see this club opened in the heart of our city centre.

Oxford's only lapdancing club has been stripped of its licence after Oxford City Council decided to 'give weight' to a local woman who complained of rude comments and a 'hostile environment..

Oxford City Council revealed the licence had not been renewed with immediate effect. The application for a licence renewal was refused after a meeting of the city's licensing and registration sub committee.

Committee chairman Van Coulter said:

There are very select grounds on which you can make a refusal, but one of which is if there has been a change in the vicinity.

We heard that the existence of the club has given rise to problems in the area. There was one lady, for example, who gave testimony about comments made to her, which I am too much of a gentleman to repeat. We have evidence that the existence of the club has created a hostile atmosphere, and we decided to give weight to that.

The renewal application received 23 letters of support, mostly from staff and the owners, and 20 objections.

club owner Al Thompson, who said 50 girls worked from the club, vowed to fight the decision all the way, claiming it was based on hearsay. He said:

They granted us a licence a year ago, and now they've suddenly decided to change their minds, leaving a lot of people out of a job and wrecking a perfectly viable business.

The police had no one at the meeting because they didn't have any issue with it. The council has based it all on hearsay.

We've got a QC and our legal team working out the best way for us to come back at this, but we will take it as far as it needs to go, and that includes the High Court.

Update: Taking Oxford's Moral Censors to Court

16th October 2012. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Alistair Thompson, who owns the club, said that the decision would leave its 23 staff without work and meant the self-employed dancers would also have to find alternative clubs. He added:

We went out of our way to find an alternative venue when we moved from Pennyfarthing Place.

The council compiled an extensive report and agreed to the new location and now a different group of councillors have turned around a year later and refused the licence.

Floors2Go next door has changed into an MOT centre but other than that absolutely nothing has changed in that area.

We've invested something like £ 200,000 in turning it from a nightclub into a strip club but unlike other businesses we have no recourse to appeal, we can't go to the magistrates court so I've been forced to seek a judicial review.

Thompson said he served papers to the council and is awaiting its response.

Update: High Court Stays the Ban

25th October  2012. See  article from  oxfordmail.co.uk

The Lodge Gentlemen's Club will re-open tonight after a stay of execution was granted by a High Court judge.

Owner Al Thompson applied to the High Court for permission to take the decision to Judicial Review, and the court agreed to hear his case.

Council spokesman Christopher Lee spouted:

We have been notified that the High Court, on the application of the owners of The Lodge, has granted a stay of the city council licensing committee's decision not to renew the sexual entertainment venue licence. This will allow it to carry on providing sexual entertainment until their judicial challenge to the decision not to renew their licence is resolved. We are told that this process may take several months.

He added rather unconvincingly that the committee's decision not to renew the licence was taken in good faith on the balance of evidence presented to it .

Hundreds of nutters gathered in the centre of a Bedfordshire market town to protest against the prospective opening of a lap-dancing club.

About 700 Ampthill residents met to give a petition to a representative of Central Bedfordshire Council, signed by over 2,000 people. Approximately a third of the town's population have signed a petition opposing it, saying it is out of keeping with the Georgian town's high street. They want the successful application for a Sexual Entertainment licence to be revoked by the local authority.

Mark Dear from the We Love Ampthill group said:

It is quite frankly the wrong place. It's a residential area, it's a gateway to the town, it's opposite a toy shop and adjacent to a children's ballet studio, I can't think of a less suitable place.

The council said it understood the strength of community feeling but its hands are tied by licensing regulations . Council leader James Jamieson said councillors:

concluded that none of the grounds on which the licence could be refused had been met. This left them with no alternative but to grant a licence. We will do everything in our power to make sure every single one of the conditions laid out in the licence is strictly enforced.

Update: Nutter tries to shove her morality issues into the lap of David Cameron

18th October 2012. See article from theyworkforyou.com

Nutter MP Nadine Dorries brought up the subject of lap dancing in Ampthill at Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament:

Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire, Conservative):

Recently, a lap-dancing club in Ampthill, a rural market town in my constituency, has been granted a licence. The one thing that residents of Mid Bedfordshire have learned is that it does not matter whether it is a Wembley-sized incinerator or a lap-dancing club in a beautiful market town, the wishes of local people have absolutely no weight in planning law. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is time we amended planning law, so that, when catastrophic applications come forward that blight the environment people live in and which greatly distress them, their views and voice are heard?

David Cameron (Prime Minister; Witney, Conservative):

My hon. Friend speaks for many people about the frustration that the planning system can sometimes deliver. I would make two points about where we are making progress. First, we have changed the licensing laws to give the planners greater power to alter licences, and I believe that that can apply to the sorts of premises to which she refers. Secondly, of course, under our plans, people can write neighbourhood plans, which give far greater control to residents over the shape of their future community. I encourage her, however, to take up the specific issue with the Department for Communities and Local Government, to see whether there is more that we can do.